Railway-traffic-controlling apparatus



March 26, 1929. c. A. REED 1,706,706

RAILWAY TRAFFIC CONTROLLING APPARATUS Filed April 24, 192s across therails at one end otthe sccti on and Patented .Maia 26, 1929.

PAT-ENT i OFFICE. 'l

CAMERON A. REED, OE BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

. RAILWAY-TRAITIEC-CONTROLLING APPARATUS."

aiipiication inea Aprii `24,

Myv invention relates to railway tratlic controlling apparatus, andparticularly to apparatus of the t-ype involving signals, switches,etc., controlled by the manually 5. operable levers of an interlockingmachine.

I will describe one form ot apparatus embodying my invention, andfwillthen point out the novel features thereof in claims.

,4 The accompanyingsd-rawing is a diagrammatic View showing one form ofapparatus embodying my invention.

Referring to the drawing, the reference characters 1 and 1 designate thetrack rails of ak railway track over which traflic moves in bothdirections. These vrails, are divided by insulated joints r2 to formtrack sections, of which only one section D-E is shown in the drawing.Section D-E is provided with two signals SR and SL for governing trafficthrough ,the section in opposite directionsaiid it is also provided withtwo automatic stop devices An and AL associated with the two signals SRand SL, respectively. VEach of these stop devices normally-occupiesitsactive position wherein it will operate to apply the brakes of a passingtrain, but when the device is energized it is moved to its inactiveyposition wherein it has no effecton a passing train. Associated withthestop device AR is a stop control relayCR, and lassociated with the stodevice AL is a similar stop control relay L. f vSection D-E is providedwith a track circuit comprising a track battery 3 connected a trackrelay `T connected across the rails at the other end ot the section.

The signals SR and SL are controlled by a manually operable lever L,which will usually be one of a plurality of levers in an interlockingmachine. occupies its middle or normal position, but may be swung to aright-hand position or a left-hand position, wherein it functions toclear signal SR or signal SL as hereinafter explained.

The stop control relay CR is-provided with a pickup circuit whichpassestrom terminal B of a suitable source of current, through contact31 of track relayT, wire 22, and. Y

rvices A are in their active positions.v Aswinding of relay CR toterminal O of the same source ot' current.' Thisrelay is pro# vided withastick circuit which passes from terminal B, through contact 7 of leverL,

This lever 'normallyV i928. 'seriaiiNa 272,377.

wires25 and 26, front ,contact8 of relay CR,

and the winding of rrelay CR totermi-nal O. Contact 7 `is closed whenlthe lever L is in its normal position or its right-hand position or anyposition between the two. Relay .CL is provided with a pickup circuit`which passes from terminal B, through contact 32 of track relay T, andthewinding of relay CLfto terminal O. This relay is provided with astickcircuitwhich passes from terminal B, through contact 6y of lever L,wires 23 and 24, front contact 12 of relay C L, and the winding of relayCL'to terminal O. Contact `6 is closed while lever L is in itsnormalpos'ition or its left-hand yposition or any yposition between t-hetwo.

The circuit for signal. SR is from terminal B, through front contact 9of relay C, wire 18, front contact 13 of relay CL,v wire 19, contact 5ot lever L, wire 2O and the Operating mechanism of `signal krSRtoterminal O. Contact -5 is closed when and only when l lever L isin'its right-,hand position.' The circuit for signal SL is the same asthe circuit just traced up'V to and` including wire 19, and it thenpassedtlirough contact 4 of lever L, wire'21 and the operatingmechanismof signal VSL to terminal Of Contact 4 is closed when and only when'lever L is inyits left-hand position.

The stop'device AR is provided with a normal circuit which passesromterminal B, through contact 16and the operating mech anism of thestop device to'tei'minal O. lContact 16 is closed when and only whensignal SR is'in the proceed position. The stop deviceAR is provided withan ailXiliarycircuit which passes from terminal B, through back contact11 of relay CR, wire 29,'and the operating mechanism oiiftl'ie stopdevice to terminal (i). The stop device AL'is provided with a similarnormal circuit which includes suming that a train moving toward theright is about toenter section D-E, the operator will swing lever L toits right-hand` position,

thereby closing at contact 5 the circuit Yfor signal SR, so that thissignal will move to the proceed position. The main circuit tor -stopdevice AR is then closed at contact 16,

so that this stop device moves to its inactive position. The stickcircuit for relay CR remains closed at contact 7 of lever L, but thestick circuit for relay CL is opened at contact 6. Relay CL remainsenergized, however, until the train enters section D-E- When the traindoes enter this section, track relay T will open, thereby opening thepickup circuits for both relays CR and CL.y Relay CR will remainenergized by virtue of its stick circuit, but relay CL. willbecomedecnergized because its stick circuit is open. The circuit lor signal SRis now open at contact 13 ot relay CL, so that this signal goes to thestop position, and stop device AR returnsto its active position. Whenthe operator returns lever L to its normal position, it will have noel'lect on the apparatus. The auxiliary circuit for stop relay is nowclosed at back Contact l5 oiz relay CL, so that this stop device is inthe inactive position, and so it will have no effect on the train as thetrain leaves section D-E- JVhen the entire train has passed out ofsection D-E,'track relay T will again become energized so that relay CLwill become energized, with the result that stop device AL will returnto its active position.

Vhen a train moving toward the lett is about to enter section D-E, theoperator will swing lever L to the lett, thereby closing the circuit forsignal SL and so the main circuit for stop vdevice AL. As the trainenters section D-E and cle-energizes track relay T, relay CL will remainenergized, because its stick circuit is closed at contact 6 of lever L,but relay CR will become de-cn ergized because its stick circuit is openat Contact 7. The auxiliary circuit for stop de# vice AR is thereforeclosed at vcontact 1l ot relay CR, so that this device will be in itsinactive position when the train passes it.

T will now assume that the operator has moved lever L to its right-handposition to permit a train moving toward the right to pass throughsection DE, and that while such train is in the section the operatorreturns lever L but inadvertently moves it beyond the-normal position.This would result in momentarily opening the stick circuit or relay CRat contact 7, so that this relay would become die-energized and wouldremain cle-energized as long as its pickup circuit is open at trackrelay T due to the presence of the train in the section. Relay CR beingcle-energized, the auxiliary circuit 'for the stop device AR would beclosed at contact 1l, and so this stop device would im properly be inits inactive position while section D--E is occupied by a train movingtoward the right. Similarly, while a train moving toward the left is insection D-E, if the operatoil inadvertently returns lever L to a pointbeyond its normal position, the stick circuit for relay CL would beopened at contact Gand the stop device AL wouldassume its inactiveposition. To prevent such improper-operations of the stop device, I haveprovided an auxiliary stick circuit for each relay CR and CL. Theauxiliary circuit for relay CR is Jfrom terminal B through back Contactlll" of relay CL, wires 27 and 26, front contact 8 of relay CR and thewinding of relay CR to terminaly C; The auxiliary stick circuit forrelay CL is similar, in that it includes vback Contact l() of relay CRand:

wires 28 and 2a. Again `assumingthz'tt ak l train moving toward theright is in'section B-E, and that ythe operator inadvertently swingslever L beyond its normalposition in attempting to return it toitsnormal po-` sition, relay CR will remain energized, because itsauxiliary stick circuit is closed at back contact 14- ot relay CL, andso the auxiliary circuit for the stop device AR'willremain open.'Similarly, when a train 'moving toward the left occupies section D-E andthe operator attempts to returnylever L from its lett-hand position toits normal edo position, it he inadvertently moves the lever beyond thenormal position relay CL will' re-l main energized by virtue of itsauxiliary stick circuit through back contact 10 ofjre-v Y lay CR. i y YAs shown in the present disclosure,each relay CR and CL controls anautomatic stop device, but it is understood that my invention is notlimited to a device ot this nature, and that any suitable railwaytraflic controlling device may be controlled yby these relays withoutdeparting from the scope of my invention. Tt will be observed that wheneither of the stop control relays CR or CL is cle-energized, theassociated stop device VAR or AL will be in its inactive position. It isimportant, theretore, to insure that both of these relays are energizedwhen a train is about to enter section D-E, and for this reason haveincludedfront contact 9 of relay CR andfront contact 13 of relay CL inthe circuit for each of the signals SR and SL.' It will be seen thatthis provision guarantees that both of the relays are energized before asignal can be cleared to permit a train to enter section D-E.

Although T have herein shown and 'des scribed only one form' ofapparatus embodying my invention, it is understood thatrvarious changesand modilications maybe'made therein within the scope of the appendedclaims without departing from thespirit'and scope of my invention. 1 f

Having thus described my invention, ,what T claim is: Y

l. In combination, a section of railway ilolever, a stick circuit forrelayCL including* a normal-to-left contact of said lever, means forcausing signal SR or signal SL to indicate proceed according as saidlever is moved to its right-hand or its left-hand osition, means forenergizing each stop devlce when the associated signal indicatesproceed, means for energizing s each stop device when the associatedstop control relay is de-energized, an auxiliary stick circuit for relayCR including a back contact of relay CL, and an auxiliary stick circuitfor relay CL including va back contact of relay CR.

2. In combination, a section of railway track, two signals SR' and SLfor governingl traiic in opposite directions through said section, twoautomatic stop devices AR and AL associated with said twoA signalsrespectively and each arranged to be inactive when energized, two stopcontrol relays CRvand CL associated with said two signals respectively,a signal lever for the control-of said signals, a track circuitincluding a track relay for said section, a pick-up circuit for eachstop control relay including a front contact of said track relay, astick circuit for relay CR including a' normal-to-right contact of saidlever, a stick circuit for relay CL including a normal-to-left contactof said lever, means for causing signal SR or signal SL to indicateproceed according as said lever is moved to its right-hand or itsleft-hand position, meansi'or preventing either signal indicatingproceed unless both of said stop control relays are energized, means forenergizing each stop device when the associated signal indicatesproceed, means for energizing each stop device when the associated stopcontrol relay is cle-energized, an auxiliary stick circuit for relay CRincluding a back contact of relay CL, and an auxiliary stick circuit forrelay CL including a back contact of relay CR.

3. In combination, a section of railway track, two signals for governingtraflic in opposite directions throughv said section, two automatic stopdevices associated with said two signals respectively, a signal lever,means operating when said lever isswung i in one directionv or the otherfrom its normal yposition to clear one signal or the other and to placein inactive condition the stopl dev vice associated with the signalwhich is cleared, means loperating while said section vis occupied toplace the stop device at the exit end in inactive condition, and meansfor preventing the'stop device in the rear of a train occupying saidsection from being 'placed in inactive condition if the operatorinadvertently swings said Vlever beyond the normal position whilerestoring it to normal position. f f

4. In combination, 'a section of railway track over which traflic movesin both directions, two traliic governin devices AR and AL located atthe two en s of said section respectively and' each arranged to preventtrallic into the section unless energized, two control relays CR and CLassociated with said two devices respectively, a lever for the controlof said devices, a trackcircuit including a track relay for saidsection, a pick-up circuit for each of said control relays including afront contact of said track relay, a stick circuit for relayCRincludinga normal-to-right contact of said lever, a stickcircuit for relay CLincluding a normalto-left contact of said lever, means for energizingdevice *AR when the said lever is moved to its right-hand position andenergizing` device AL when the said lever is moved to its left-handposition, other means for energizing each device when the associatedcontrol relay is de-energized, an auxiliary stick circuit nfor relay CRincluding a back contact of relay CL, and an auxiliary stick circuit forrelay CL including ya back contact of relay CR.

5. In combination, a section of railway track over which traliic movesin both directlons, two traflic governing devices located at the twoends of the section respectively and each. arranged to prevent y tralicinto the section unless energized, a lever having a normal position andycapable of moving inl opposite directions therefrom, means operatingwhen said leveris moved in one direction or the other from its normalposi.- tion to energize one of said trailic governing devices or theother, means operating while said section is occupied to energize theother of said traliic governing devices, and means for preventingenergization of the traflic governing device in the rear of a trainoccupying said section if the operator inadvertently moves said leverbeyond the normal position while attempting to restore it to normalposition.

In testimony whereof I aiix .my signature.

CAMERON A. REED,

